The inn was as miserable as the city itself—its wooden walls warped from rot, the floorboards creaking with every hesitant step, and the faint stench of damp mold lingering in the corners like it had taken root in the very bones of the building.
Our room wasn't much better.
A single, lopsided bed shoved against the wall, its mattress thin and stained from years of neglect. The window had no glass, just crooked shutters that rattled whenever the wind found its way through the cracks. It wasn't home, but it was shelter.
Elaris and I guided Nira inside, her small hand still clenched tightly around mine, her steps hesitant as if afraid the floor might collapse beneath her.
She looked around, her gray eyes lingering on the bed like it was something foreign, something she wasn't sure she was allowed to touch.
Elaris knelt beside her, her voice soft and warm. "It's okay, Nira. You can sleep here tonight." She patted the mattress gently, a quiet invitation.
Nira hesitated, then slowly climbed onto the bed, curling into herself like a stray animal unsure if it had truly found safety.
I pulled off my cloak, folding it into a makeshift pillow before laying it on the cold, splintered floor beside the bed. It wasn't comfortable, but after everything we'd been through, comfort wasn't something I expected anymore.
I settled in, staring at the cracked ceiling above, listening to the faint sounds of the city beyond the thin walls—drunken laughter, distant shouts, the occasional clash of metal.
Then, I heard a small voice.
"…Noctis?"
I turned my head slightly, and there she was—Nira, sitting up in the bed, her pink hair messy, her eyes still clouded with sleep but filled with something new.
Vulnerability.
"Yeah?" I answered quietly.
She hesitated, her fingers clutching the thin blanket like it was a lifeline.
"C-Can you…" She swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper. "Can you sleep up here? With me… and Elaris?"
The words hit me harder than I expected.
Not because of what she said.
But because of what it meant.
She trusted me.
After everything—the fear, the loneliness, the walls she'd built just to survive—she trusted me enough to ask me to stay.
I felt Elaris's gentle gaze shift to me from where she was already lying beside Nira, her lavender eyes soft with something warm and fragile.
I nodded silently, rising from the floor. The bed creaked under my weight as I settled on the other side of Nira, careful not to crowd her.
But she didn't hesitate.
She shifted closer immediately, her small body pressing against mine, her fingers finding my sleeve and holding on like she had earlier, as if I might disappear if she didn't.
I glanced at Elaris over Nira's pink hair, and she gave me a faint smile—tired but genuine.
For a while, none of us spoke. The room grew quiet except for the rhythmic sound of Nira's breathing as it evened out, the tension in her small frame finally melting away into sleep.
I reached over, brushing a stray strand of hair from Elaris's face.
She caught my hand, her fingers lacing with mine across Nira's sleeping form.
Her voice was soft, just above a whisper. "She's been alone for too long."
I nodded, my throat tight. "I know."
We fell into silence again, but the space between us wasn't heavy. It felt… peaceful. Fragile, but real.
After a long moment, Elaris spoke again, her words slow, like she was choosing them carefully.
"Noctis… after all of this—after Veylara, the Rift, the ruins…" She paused, her thumb brushing gently over the back of my hand. "What if we tried? For a child, I mean."
Her words hung in the air, soft but sharp in the quiet.
I turned my head, meeting her gaze fully. Her eyes weren't filled with fear or hesitation—just hope, fragile and bright, flickering like a candle in the dark.
I swallowed hard, my heart racing—not with the usual pulse of battle or magic, but something different. Something terrifying and beautiful all at once.
"I'd like that," I whispered. "With you… I'd like that."
Her smile grew, small and full of something I couldn't describe, like she'd been holding that hope in her heart for longer than I knew.
Between us, Nira stirred slightly in her sleep, her hand tightening around my sleeve, as if even in dreams, she wasn't ready to let go.
And maybe—neither was I.
I leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to Elaris's forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my lips.
"After this," I whispered against her skin, my voice steady. "We'll build something more than survival."
She nodded softly, her eyes closing as sleep finally claimed her.
And for the first time in a long, long time—I wasn't afraid of the future.